Objective, reliable, and veriable Construction Cost Estimates are critical to best value outcomes for all repair, renovation, maintenance, and new build activities.
The estimating process begins with a comprehensive understanding of your project’s scope of work. A knowledgeable and well-trained estimating team is a key component along with a robust processes, procedures, a objective and granular local market construction task data.
#1 Pre-Estimate Stage
Reviewing Requirements
Owner creates and initial Scope of Work.
#2 Joint Job Site Visit:
Owners and design-builders should always conduct a joint visit to the site to review existing/verify conditions.
#3 Building a Detailed Estimate
The best approach to completing is to create a detailed line item estimate via a quantity take-off and associating granular labor, material, equipment, and productivigy data for each line. This will provide you with a clear technical and cost view of the project.
#4 Uniform and Consistent Quantities and Costs
A quantity take-off is a continuous list of items and measurements and leverage appropriate technology to enable information sharing, updating, and resue. Quantities must leverage consistent, industry standard units of measure. Costs must be current, objective, and locally reserached. Both quanitites and costs should be presented in terms of a granular construction task. Each construction task should be unique and identifed by using a standard data architecture (i.e. expanded CSI Masterformat).
#5 Understand Your Products, Material, and Labor Costs/Pricing
Factors that impact local market costs:
- Availability and demand for a product.
- Availability and demand for labor
- Availabiity and demand for equipment
- Delivery factors (location, security…)
- Local market labor costs per trade (workers compensation, hourly rate, other “fringes”)
#5 Productivity
Calculation of individual or crew times to complete a task in hours should be represented in terms of a standard eight (8) hour day, and represent average local productivity factors. Normal hour work productivity and cost can vary from non-normal work hours.
#6 Subcontractor Quotes
It is best practice to also require subcontractors to provide detailed line-item quotes. Lump sum quotes, even if provided by multiple constractors, should never be considers sufficient. It is important to provide the same level of percision and same evaluation steps used for owner and constractor estimating.
#7 Addtional Cost Considerations
Mobilization
- Jobsite storage containers, required utilities, portable waste units
- Safety costs
- Dumpster
- Clean-up
- Other miscellaneous items, etc
- Fees (permits/insurance)
via 4BT.US – Objective, local market granular construction task data and robust construction planning, procurement, and project delivery frameworks.